Newnan is named for North Carolina Native, General Daniel Newnan, who was a soldier and later became Georgia Secretary of State and a United States Congressman. Once Newnan was established as a town, lawyers, doctors, and merchants began conducting business in the new town. The city was laid out in a grid pattern with a nine block central business district, the center of which was the courthouse. The streets were named for such famous Americans as Jackson, Jefferson, Washington and Madison.
A History of Newnan and Coweta County
The land that is now Coweta County was named for Chief William McIntosh of the Coweta Tribe of the Creek Indian Nation. Newnan, the county seat, was first settled in 1828. Newnan is named for North Carolina Native, General Daniel Newnan, who was a soldier and later became Georgia Secretary of State and a United States Congressman. Once Newnan was established as a town, lawyers, doctors, and merchants began conducting business in the new town. The city was laid out in a grid pattern with a nine block central business district, the center of which was the courthouse. The streets were named for such famous Americans as Jackson, Jefferson, Washington and Madison.
Due in part to the success of the cotton industry, Newnan prospered at the turn of the century. Newnan's leading citizens invested in the railroad during the mid l800's. This brought economic prosperity to the town and estab-lished Newnan as one of the wealthiest towns per capita in the United States. The passenger railroad line to Newnan was opened in 1851. Established as a saw mill in 1850, The R.D. Cole Manufacturing Company won major construction contracts and was the contractor for a majority of the homes built in Newnan from the l880's until after the turn of the century. In the l890's, the water works was built and Newnan installed electric street lamps. During this time, brick buildings replaced the last wood framed structures on the square.
The Civil War came closest to Newnan in July 1864, when the battle of Brown's Mill occurred three miles south of town, resulting in the defeat of Federal forces under the command of General E.M. McCook by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler.
College Temple - the first college to offer a Master of Arts degree to women was used in the War Between the States as a hospital for wounded Confederate and Union troops as were the courthouse and local churches. Newnan was spared some of the ravages of the Civil War, and many historic homes, including General Wheeler's headquarters, still line the streets of Newnan, known today as the "City of Homes".

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